Page 19 of Secret Baby Daddies
I checked the fridge for something to eat and found it empty. The cabinets were just as bare. My heart thumped a little harder as I looked through the change jar on the counter. I’d already raided it the week before but there were a few dimes hiddenamongst the pennies. I gathered as many as I could and headed out with even more concern over the state of my life.
CHAPTER 17
Maddox
I sat on the front porch of the family ranch house and watched the sun set behind a distant mountain. I was doing my best to portray someone a lot calmer than how I was feeling.
Luc stood at the railing, glaring at Jace. They’d been arguing more than ever and it was driving me insane. I was almost ready to throw a punch so we could get the tension over with and move the fuck on.
“HarleyBeau?” Jace swore and shook his head. “When did you know? I know you knew. You weren’t the least bit surprised when we got her name from the auction registry.”
“I knew the first night. What are you pissed about? If I’d put an end to that night ,would you feel better right now? You’d be happy without even having been inside her? Without our fucking baby growing right now?” Luc crossed his arms over his chest and scowled back at Jace.
“You think that’s the reason I’m so pissed off at you?” Jace stood up and got closer to Luc. “We were itching for her for two months, asshole. Two fucking months. You knew who she was and where she was and you didn’t say a fucking word. What made you think you had the power to make that decision?”
“I was trying to save us from being exactly where the fuck we are right now! We’re working on a deal with Harvey, for fucks sake!” Luc jerked his head around to face me. “Tell me you understand that. He’s herfather.”
I sat forward with my elbows on my knees and sighed. “I don’t know. Jace is right. We had a right to know. This only works if we don’t keep shit from each other.”
Luc shouldered Jace out of his way and walked over to sit next to me. “I didn’t think we’d ever see her again. I thought if we found her and the sex was still that good, one thing would lead to another. I know Harvey and I know he’d do his best to ruin usif he found out about us fucking his daughter. I was trying to do what was best for us. That itch for her would’ve faded.”
I shot him a look. “Would it? After the other night you can still say that you believe that?”
Jace leaned on the railing in front of us and blew out a deep breath.
“Harley fucking Beau. There’s not a chance that the itch for her would’ve faded. She would’ve been a nameless woman who’d gotten away. She would’ve set the bar for any woman in our future. It’s fucked up you felt like you could make that decision for us. We’re all grown-ass men, Luc. You don’t get to do what you think is best for us without talking to us.”
“I’m sorry.” Luc ground the words out like they were made of concrete. “You’re right. I hate it but you are. Hindsight being what it is, I would’ve cost us a lot if Harley hadn’t shown up at that auction. A kid. An insanely beautiful and sexy woman who comes like a goddamn Mack truck.”
I sat back and groaned. “Why haven’t we gone to collect her yet? She’s carrying our child.”
“More importantly, why the hell was Harvey Beau’s daughter selling herself at an auction?” Jace tilted his head and cracked his knuckles. “Actually, I’m not sure it’s more important. I can ask those questions once we get her here.”
Luc stared out at the land and scratched as the scruff on his chin.
“Honestly? I’m not sure how we get to her. It’s not like I can call up Harvey and ask him where his daughter is. I checked the security footage and she left with Hunter Michaels. I have a call into the club to have her call us but she was off yesterday. We can’t blunder into this shit. Getting in bed with Harvey is setting us up at the perfect angle to take over Holton Industries.”
“Getting in bed with Harley could set us up for the best sex of our lives.” I couldn’t help trying to lighten up the situation. Shit, being so serious for too long made my skin crawl.
Ignoring me, Jace pressed on. “We’re going to take Holden no matter what. Going with Harvey just gets it done faster. We’ve never needed anyone else to make our business a success.”
“Look, none of it matters now. We got her pregnant. There’s no taking that back. We just need to keep it under wraps until after the deal is finished.” Luc looked like he’d aged ten years during our talk. “I can’t believe she snuck out again. She might be daddy’s little princess with a trust fund big enough to buy a few islands but she’s going to learn that she can’t just run away from us.”
We were getting back to a topic I wanted to talk about.
“I’d be happy to teach her.”
“What are the chances she’s hiding out in one of Harvey’s mansions?” Jace scrubbed his hands down his face. “We should’ve taken two fucking seconds the other night to talk to her. She probably needed toventor something and we just jumped on her.”
I smirked. “She was right there with us, Mad. The smell of her arousal is burned into my brain. She’s as hot for us as we are for her. We would’ve talked in the morning but she fled the scene like a goddamn bandit.”
Luc finally laughed at that. “I downloaded the security feed and I’ll play it for you later. You have to see the way she was sneaking out. She really did look like a bandit.”
“How’s Harvey going to react when we just scoop his daughter out from under him?” Finally deciding to sit, Jace sank into the rocking chair next to me. “I feel like he’d notice something like that.”
“I don’t know. Give me some time to figure out where she is.” Luc let out a sardonic laugh. “We’re just assuming she’s coming. There’s always the possibility she doesn’t want to.”
“The way that woman melts for us? She’ll want to.” I shrugged when he shot me a look. “What? She might be used to the finer things but there’s nothing her dad could give her that we couldn’t.”
